Music Recording

Ableton Live is one of the most popular DAWs around, loved for its flexibility and intuitive workflow. On this brand new course from Senior Tutor and Ableton Certified Trainer Rob Jones, you’ll go from first steps with the software right through to exporting a final arrangement, and everything in between! The course is suitable for all ages and abilities, taking students through all of the main areas of the software slowly and clearly, to help forge a thorough understanding of the different ways music can be made. Once setting up the software has been covered, Rob embarks on two hour-long lectures focussed purely on working with audio samples in session and arrangement view, respectively, showing how to lay out simple song structures in each. He then moves onto MIDI, explaining the fundamentals of working with instruments and demonstrating the numerous ways of producing melodic accompaniment. The subsequent lessons then develop skills for editing and track building in the arrangement, as well as teaching how to create beats with Drum Racks, how to record audio and the basics of mixing, covering balancing, panning and applying a number of different effects. Other topics featured include using 3rd-party plugins, sampling with Simpler, assigning MIDI controllers, and even some bonus tutorials on working with Loopmasters Loopcloud. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to confidently work with audio samples and MIDI instruments in Ableton, whether making simple backing beats for performing with session view or more fleshed out songs in the arrangement. The 10 hours of streamed tutorials come with the projects from the modules, plus written notes providing a neat summary of the content of each lesson, along with a bonus 500MB pack of samples from Loopmasters to kick start your personal sample library! In addition, there are assignments at certain stages throughout the course, with extra materials provided for practicing all of the different techniques learned in the tutorials. Check out the sample module for an example of the teaching style and course content, so you can see for yourself how much there is to learn from Rob’s experience and software knowledge, which will have you on the road to becoming a serious music producer in no time!

2-time winner of the NMG Best Female Solo Award Ellie Dixon has been featured on BBC 6 Music, ITV News and Glamour Magazine YouTube Channel. With recent singles garnering hundreds of thousands of plays on Spotify and social media channels blowing up, her ability to make Alternative Pop that captures the minds and hearts of the masses is undeniable! On this course, Ellie takes you through the main steps to producing a magical Indie Pop chorus from scratch. The course starts by putting together the main hook and beats, to establish the foundations of the track, before a bassline is created by combining guitar with a synthesized layer from Logic’s Sculpture. The beats are then bolstered and processed with various effects to fatten up the groove. Following this, Ellie incorporates percussion sounds from multiple objects in her immediate environment, to add quirky rhythms and identifiable textures into the track. Once the basic architecture of the chorus is in place, various melodic elements are incorporated using instruments in the DAW. These include electric and grand pianos, as well as a bell sound, which is shaped with effects and woven into a retro pop leadline. Parts are played in using a MIDI keyboard and some are bounced to audio so that additional editing and more precise arranging can be carried out. The final 3-part module sees Ellie constructing each vocal track, beginning with the main vocal and then adding layer after layer of additional harmonies, using doubling and panning techniques to fill out the sound. Each part is edited and processed with effects to form a unified sound and sit comfortably in the mix. Signing up to the course gets immediate access to the 2.5 hours of streamed tutorials, plus the project from the lessons and a bonus pack of Indie Pop samples from Loopmasters. Check out the sample module before signing up for an example of the course content and Ellie’s inspirational teaching style.

With a huge amount of music production experience, including being the engineer behind legendary band Submotion Orchestra, Producertech are very happy to welcome Dom Howard to the community, as he offers a glimpse at his working methods in this series of tutorials. On the course, Dom walks through one of the tracks on his 2020 solo album ‘Songs for the Time Being’, released under his artist name ‘Ruckspin’, in which he uncovers the techniques used to create and mix the different melodic and percussive elements within it. After providing an overview of the artistic goals and structure of the arrangement, Dom starts to dissect the various parts in the song, beginning with the string quartet, which forms the backbone of the intro and lays down foundations for the overall harmony. He then moves on to the huge JP synth in the chorus and other complementary leads, as well as describing the way sub and bass layers are handled. Following this are lessons that outline the treatment of vocals and drums, with a thorough explanation of the many busses used to add extra textures and professional touches to the mix. Once all the main parts have been covered, Dom returns to the main strings to provide a deeper exploration of the music theory behind them, then explaining how all of the melodic sounds are sequenced, from long, sustained notes to brief, pizzicato arpeggios. As well as getting more technical with the melodies, there are tips on recording percussion, and how to edit and arrange parts to create a more organic drum break. Signing up to the course provides instant access to 90 minutes of streamed tutorials, in addition to a bonus collection of samples from Loopmasters, taken from the Submotion Orchestra sample pack. Check out the free excerpt from the course for an example of Dom’s style and delivery, which is packed full of pro tips to inspire and help with creating stunning Electropop tracks of your own. Listen to 'Best Laid Plans' by Ruckspin using the embedded player below... Ruckspin · Best Laid Plans (feat. Ruth Royall)

PreSonus Studio One is among the more recent Digital Audio Workstations yet one of the most popular, due to its streamlined workflow, powerful set of factory devices and user friendly music creation tools. On this beginners complete guide, you’ll be taken through all of the main areas of producing with Studio One, to help develop solid foundations for using the software to create quality music of your own. Leading the tutorials is certified PreSonus Studio One professional, audio engineer, synthesist and sound design teacher, Adam Pietruszko. Teaching everything from scratch, Adam starts with configuration and setup, continuing through using on-board loops, effects and instruments, all the way to mixing and exporting songs. As well as the main software features, a variety of audio engineering concepts, mixing and processing techniques are all demonstrated, so intermediate users will also benefit from the course. Furthermore, sound design tutorials covering synthesis and sampling basics will help you to create your own sounds, beats and loops. Throughout the course, detailed diagrams will aid in the understanding of concepts like compression, gating, signal routing, as well as the inner workings of synths. In addition to the 8 hours of streamed tutorials, students also have access to a download pack containing all the songs and projects created within the course, so you can play around with the material presented. Plus, there’s an eclectic 600MB collection of bonus samples from Loopmasters, providing you with a fresh load of hits and loops to invigorate your music. Sign up to get access to this wealth of materials and take your Studio One production knowledge to a whole new level! Although the majority of the course was made with Studio One 3, the course is fully compatible with Studio One 4, including comparison tutorials and lessons focussing on the new instruments and editing features. Studio One Professional edition is recommended to make the most from the course.

Producertech are happy to announce a brand new course on Reason 7 by Jared Meeker, a professional musician and composer who's performed with LA hiphop artists like Nate Dog and the Eastsidas, Snoop Dogg and Myka Nine, and has a string of sound design credits that include Dexter and Smash. In this comprehensive set of tutorials, Jared shows how to record and process live parts, like the guitar lines that form the basic structure and embellish the song, as well as focusing on the 5 major elements of composition - melody, harmony, rhythm, timbre and form.The lessons teach a wide variety of subjects, including instrument programming, numerous mixing and production techniques, creative audio editing and also many of the new features in Reason 7, like the Audiomatic Retro Transformer and the updates to the main mixer.Signing up to the courses not only allows unrestricted 24/7 access to the tutorials for as long as you need but also means you can download the Reason song file made throughout the course and a whole load of extra bonus samples from the Loopmasters packs used in the movies.